


Pro Bono

by IsisKitsune



Series: The Devil's in the details [44]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Feels, College, College Student Peter Parker, Gen, Human Disaster Matt Murdock, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lectures, Mutant Politics, Mutant Rights, Mutants, Past Child Abuse, Peter Parker is Matt Murdock's Biological Child, Protective Matt Murdock, mute character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23950564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsisKitsune/pseuds/IsisKitsune
Summary: Matt frowned as they reached the office, he stopped before reaching out to the old plate to double check before holding the door open for his companions. “We have an appointment to discuss the Xavier Institutes involvement in the physical and psychological courses for Mutant students. That and my participation in the Mutant and Mutant Allies coalition for presentations on the new Mutant Rights Laws.”“Um, yes,” Matt frowned, swearing he saw a bloom of difference to his normally dark world, “Right this way.”“Does she look, worried?”“Positively petrified,” Charles' soft voice held a grin. “Did it come across well?”“I, yes, it, came across.”
Series: The Devil's in the details [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704817
Kudos: 101





	Pro Bono

Matt stepped out of the car, smiling as he circled to the back and winced at the sulfur cloud he walked into, “Sorry, we are not in your office, ja?”

“Right,” he stepped back to let Kurt pull the folder chair out of the trunk and open it to wheel it over to the other door and open in.

“Kurt, how many times have I told you to be careful with Mr. Murdock's senses?”

“Ja, I forget, I apologized.”

Matt smirked as he made sure nothing was hanging out of the trunk before closing it while Kurt shifted the Professor to his travel chair. “Do you know this campus, Charles?”

“I bit, but it's been quite some time since I've been here.”

“Knowing this campus, they haven't changed a single thing.”

Charles chuckled, “I'm sure.”

Matt's head tipped toward the voices when something kept repeating, “Saint Murdock,” he mumbled in question before shaking his head and then frowning when Charles automatically circled to the ramp, “Sorry, I'm use to walking the stairs.”

“No worries, Matthew, we all have our paths we travel.”

Matt smiled, “Right.”

“Sorry zat too so long,” Kurt appearing made him cough and step back, “Sorry.”

Matt snorted and coughed, wincing his eyes closed, “No teleporting inside, please.”

“Kurt, please?”

“I'm just use to the manor, Professor. It's-”

“Nice to not hide,” Matt smiled as he reached out to take his arm, “Trust me, I know.”

Charles hadn't yet asked, but Matt could tell he knew. The way he shifted, the tone in his voice, the manner he treated some things most people would brush off... Somehow it hadn't yet unsettled Matt, it actually made him feel calmer. “So, how have they been treating everyone?”

“Better after I slapped them with a few stone solid lawsuits. Settled twice, haven't heard a single bad thing since. Not about rule changes at least. Now, there have been a bit of worrisome intel on some of the teachers here but so far their response has been good about it.”

Matt tilted his head toward the chuckle, “It seems the children are right about you.”

Matt frowned as they reached the office, he stopped before reaching out to the old plate to double check before holding the door open for his companions. “We have an appointment to discuss the Xavier Institutes involvement in the physical and psychological courses for Mutant students. That and my participation in the Mutant and Mutant Allies coalition for presentations on the new Mutant Rights Laws.”

“Um, yes,” Matt frowned, swearing he saw a bloom of difference to his normally dark world, “Right this way.”

“Does she look, worried?”

“Positively petrified,” Charles' soft voice held a grin. “Did it come across well?”

“I, yes, it, came across.”

“Good.” Matt stepped back when the chair's motor powered up so Charles could pull away without risking rolling over his toes. “Come on, Matthew, plenty of young minds to shape.”

Matt shook his head, “How many tens of thousands of dollars, just to pro bono some law knowledge at the same place I learned it from?”

“It's a worthy cause.”

“That it is,” Matt smiled as he headed into the room.

-

Matt leaned against the desk and sighed at people started filing in, checking his watch, he still had a few minutes. He ended up slipping his hands back to make sure nothing was set up behind him before lifting himself to sit on it. “Please, crowd in toward the front please,” he waved everyone down toward the desk, “Ya can sit on the floor for all the difference it makes to me...” He blinked at the shuffling close by, tilting his head and glaring, “You must be Preston...”

Matt couldn't help laugh at the slack jacked reaction as the room started cracking up. “How'd you know?”

“Peter warned me you were a smart ass.” Matt smiled as the shuffling of someone getting up before the kid made it to one of the front seats, “Alright, here's the rundown. My name is Matt Murdock, I am a lawyer based out of Hell's Kitchen and believe it or not my ass was in those seats at the same age as you are now. So, albeit not the same reason behind the discrimination, intended or not, I've dealt with a lot of this before. And nearly 20 years later, here we are again. I sense a pattern,” Matt sighed as he tilted his head toward the ceiling before shaking it, “We are here to discuss your rights as new and unknown as they appear to be as a Mutant within the United States. Thanks Peter, by the way, for ruining my day off.”

Peter flailed from somewhere in the back before huffing, “You're welcome dad!”

“A few things about me, I am not a Mutant, I am a lawyer... I am blind, NLP, no light perception, so any and all hand raising will be utterly pointless. Do we have anyone here who is deaf or needs aid in speaking?” Matt held a finger to his ear, shaking his head before putting it to his mouth and shaking his head.

“Yeah, hold on. I got this,” Peter called before shuffling toward a small group and checked on something, “She's got her phone on tts. She's mute only, she can hear fine.”

“Good, do we have anyone needing an interpreter? Hablo español tambien pero no mucho mas.”

“We're good, dad.”

“Good. Alright, a few good things to always remember. No one is ever within legal right to ask your status as a Mutant. If I ask you during an interview, on an application of any kind, hell if I ask you during a date- your response is?” Matt smiled as he swung his hand over toward one of the ones paying attention.

“Why would you need to ask that?”

Matt shrugged, “It's a good option, especially leads them toward giving a reason for asking. Most of them will mess up and basically tell you the truth, it's for pure discriminatory purposes. I personally would go with, 'You're aware that's an illegal question, aren't you?'...” Matt smiled and waved a hand, “Act like they just asked you if you were pregnant, even you fellas, give them the absolutely dumbstruck look, though I'm told the best reaction is the mortified/confused look can give you something to laugh about later. But that could just be the potential lawsuit.”

“Mr. Murdock,” Matt nodded, grinning, knowing the hand was raised, “What if it's for assistance?”

Matt sighed, “There are some assistance out there, some of them are strictly Mutant based. Most of them go only toward accessibility aides, such as water tank breathers for that poor kid I read about down south in Virginia. Um, he adapted to nearly drowning, because of that the kid will never breathe fresh air again. In those cases, it is strictly your choice, just as applying for any sort of aid. Just remember, when it comes to your banking, your schooling, your business, your employment no one has any sort of right to turn you down over your status and in fact is not even allowed to ask you for it.”

“So, for schooling?”

“I would recommend contacting Charles Xavier's Institute if you're looking for strictly Mutant based aid. He will know everyone that will hold that information as private and still be able to help you move forward.”

“Okay,” Matt smiled at the scribbling of pens.

“Okay, now, accessibility. As previously stated, Mutation is nothing that can be controlled. When it happens, it happens, and some need restrictions and assistance in day to day life. If your counselor asks what assistance you might need-”

“You'd list it off with reason wouldn't you?”

“You don't require a reason, most of the time. I mean, there might be some that would require one. But, genetics, that works. Trauma works too, from what I've read about how Mutation presents... Yeah, pretty traumatic in some cases.”

“Can I use trauma as an excuse to get out of paperwork?”

Matt snorted, “Not gonna lie, my years here have made me reach for my braille display before I will ever touch a piece of paper... And I even had trouble with my teachers remembering the only blind student on campus at the time. Sadly, it wouldn't work how you want it to, still have an argument to make you e-file everything.”

“Damnit!”

Matt grinned as a chuckle rose, “Alright, basically, everything revolves around, discrimination. If I walk up to you,” Matt stepped over toward the seats he knew where there and sniffing softly before stepping a few paces along side them to an occupied chair, “And go,” he pointed, “You, outa my class.”

“Why?”

“I don't like your face. Get out.”

Matt smiled at the snort, “Bullshit, that's discrimination.”

“Exactly. If I ask you something, or make a rule, or assign you something that seems custom tailored to piss you off, I'm being an asshole. Take some of it with a grain of salt, because some will. But if I am saying, or doing something that is custom targeted at you. For your difference, that's discrimination. Now there will always be gray areas, remember that when it comes to the safety of others, gray areas are for the safety of all. I can't have someone that can bench press 200 pounds with a finger play football, not with normal everyday guys and girls that can Maybe bench 200 on their best day, you see what I mean? That's a gray area. I can't, in good faith, advise a company that safety in a facility will be sound if they have a pyrokinetic working with flammable chemicals day in and day out, you see what I mean?” Matt smiled at the nods and 'yeahs'. “So, I'm saying, some of it should be taken with a grain of salt. If I have you all come in and I say 'Alright, here's the rules, no using abilities inside these doors', that's a blanket. It's a shitty blanket, but it's one to make it an even playing field. Now, if you walk in,” Matt shuffled a bit farther to wave a hand, “And I take one look at you, and everyone can see instantly you're different and I tell you to get out. Even if it's under the 'blanket' of 'you'll disrupt the class' that's discrimination. Just, think a minute, really. Most of it is obvious. And things like trying to force medication to dampen someone's mental capacity, or requiring fire proof housing or claiming at the moment of discovering you're different that you've cheated. All that was discriminatory. That's why we're going through this.” Matt sighed as he shuffled back, reaching to let his hand brush the table before having a seat on it, “So, any questions?”

“Um, medical?”

“Medical, if they do not offer a HIPPA form, verifying your information is secured by doctor patient confidentiality I would walk out the door. As for you offering the information... We still don't know a lot about the X gene. We're unsure of a lot of effects of it and reactions of it. So, it would be something that, I would bring up to my personal care physician.”

“If you had one...” Matt growled at Peter's voice.

“I do have one...” Matt grumbled, “Little shit...” before composing himself, “If you are ever worried or even fearful of telling your doctor anything they shouldn't be your doctor. But, if- you fear for your safety, and you are under legal age and require a parent present. Protect yourself, okay? I'm, not trying to dissuade trust here. If you are in a situation where you fear for your safety and are under age, use any excuse you can to get a medical provider alone and tell them you feel unsafe. They are required by law to report abuse. I've had... cases. A little girl used 'girl things' to talk to a female nurse alone, a young boy needed to ask about something he was embarrassed to talk about with a woman in the room. Those ones always make me proud they were able to wave the red flag but, at the same time, it always breaks your heart.”

“What about family?” Matt blinked, his head tilting up at the electronic voice.

“I'm sorry, can you elaborate?”

“What about discrimination in family?”

Matt licked his lips, “I, sadly can't really help out with the whole 'parent likes one sibling more than another thing', I'm told that's a common thing. Are you talking about, parents favoring a Non-Mutant child more than a Mutant one?”

“Yes.”

Matt rocked back before standing up, “That, I truly have no real advise for. I mean, I could offer you so many different ways to make their lives hell, but none of it would really stick if we're talking about general favoritism. If I had my way, every parent would love their child unconditionally, no matter what, but- I've been the unwanted child, you can't make anyone, really, love their child.”

Matt shrugged until he heard, “What about mutilation?”

Matt blinked as he reached out to grab his cane, “That's always got a case, we'll, talk... after, alright?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, back to questions-”


End file.
